History

The A-level course builds upon the skills that students will have developed through their GCSE, while allowing students the opportunity to study new areas and topics of History.

View Course Information

Subject Type:
A LevelDetails of Exam Board:
AQAEntry Requirements:

Minimum GCSE grade 6 in History as well as grade 6 in English Language.

Last three years destinations:

BA (Hons) History at Leeds University

BA (Hons) History and Sociology at Liverpool Hope University

BA (Hons) History at Exeter University

History students will develop into informed citizens who understand how the events of the past have shaped the world within which we live today. In the era of ‘fake news’ it is more important than ever to be able to critically analyse sources of information to recognise subjectivity and bias.

In A-level History lessons you will be taught by specialists in their own topic areas, with a passion for enabling students to develop their own opinions. We believe History lessons should be about fostering a student’s natural curiosity and challenging their thinking to develop and deepen their own subject knowledge and understanding. History lessons will be varied but will include collaborative learning, debating and discussion-based tasks to ensure that we bring out the best in all of our students. Through our courses on the history of Tsarist and Communist Russia, and the making of Modern Britain between 1951 and 2007, you will have an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of some of the major issues in the world today

Course Aims

History students will be required to analyse historical evidence, both primary and secondary and form their own arguments on a variety of topics. It is their ability to gather evidence together to form an articulate and coherent response which make History students so highly regarded by Universities.

History is one of the subjects listed by the Russell Group report as a facilitating subject. This is a subject most likely to be required or preferred for entry to degree courses and choosing facilitating subjects will keep more options open to you at university.

Progression

It is the skills such as the ability to put forward and substantiate an argument that are developed at A-level which make History a highly valued subject in a range of university courses and career paths. These potential careers include among many others law, journalism, the civil service, intelligence and politics.

Exam

The weighting of assessment is 20% Historical investigation and 80% examinations.

The investigation will be approximately 3500 words in length and will be set and marked by your teacher, then externally moderated.

There are two examinations which are both completed at the end of year 13. They carry an equal weighting of 40% each of your overall grade. Both are set and marked by the exam board.

Paper 1 will be on Tsarist and Communist Russia 1855-1964.Paper 2 will be on The Making of Modern Britain 1951-2007.